Welcome to Hyrule, brave adventurer. You’re about to embark on one of the most expansive and creatively liberating journeys in gaming history. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom builds upon its predecessor in astonishing ways, introducing new dimensions to explore both above the clouds and beneath the earth. It can feel overwhelming at first, but that’s part of the magic—this is a game designed to reward curiosity and experimentation. This guide will give you the foundational knowledge to start your adventure with confidence, without spoiling the epic story that unfolds.
See other game guides : Guides and Walkthroughs in Gaming
Your First Steps: The Critical Early Game Path
Your journey begins not in Hyrule, but in the sky. After a brief prologue, you’ll find yourself on the Great Sky Island. This is your tutorial area, and it’s essential to complete it thoroughly before descending to the surface.
Follow the Main Quest: Press the Minus (-) button to open your Adventure Log. This will show you your current objectives. On the Great Sky Island, your goal is to find and complete the four shrines. The yellow dot on your map marks your destination. Don’t be tempted to wander off too far—complete this area first.
Don’t Explore Hyrule Proper… Yet: After you descend from the sky, you’ll land near Lookout Landing. Resist the urge to immediately run off into the wilderness. Your first priority should be to head to the giant telescope, speak with Purah, and focus on the main quests there until you receive two absolutely essential items: the Paraglider and access to the Skyview Tower. Without the paraglider, exploration is significantly more difficult and many shrines assume you have it.
The Paraglider is Non-Negotiable: You might be tempted to forge your own path immediately after the tutorial, but stick with the story-directed quests until you get your wings. Once you have the paraglider, the real adventure begins.
Mastering Link’s New Abilities
Your new hand isn’t just for show—it grants you four incredible powers that are the heart of the game’s creativity. You’ll acquire them by completing the four shrines on the Great Sky Island. Learn them early, and they’ll save you time, items, and frustration.
| Ability | How to Unlock | What It Does | Beginner Tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ultrahand | Ukouh Shrine | Lets you pick up, rotate, and attach objects to each other. Build bridges, vehicles, or crazy contraptions. | You can Ultrahand most things in your environment—including Koroks! Use ZL to reset an object’s rotation before positioning it. |
| Fuse | In-isa Shrine | Combine materials with your weapons, shields, or arrows to make them stronger, more durable, or grant special effects. | Fuse everything, constantly. There are no negative effects. Even adding a simple rock to a stick creates a mining hammer. |
| Ascend | Gutanbac Shrine | Phase upward through ceilings and terrain. Perfect for escaping caves or reaching high places without climbing. | Use Ascend creatively—it’s not just for caves. You can escape dungeons, skip climb-heavy routes, or surprise enemies from below. |
| Recall | Nachoyah Shrine | Rewind an object’s movement. Great for time-based puzzles or making fallen objects return to the sky. | Use Recall on falling rocks or Zonai devices to reverse their trajectory, giving you a ride back up to sky islands. |
Pro Tip for Ultrahand: Get in the habit of using ZL to reset an object’s rotation before you try to position it. This makes building much easier. And always double-check your creations—is that Flame Emitter facing the right way? A quick check can save you a lot of grief (and some hilarious explosions).
Exploration Essentials: Getting Around Hyrule
Hyrule is vast, with three layers to explore: the surface, the Sky Islands, and the Depths. Here’s how to navigate it all.
Prioritize Stamina Over Hearts: When you first start exchanging your Lights of Blessing (from shrines) for upgrades, prioritize stamina. While hearts are tempting, stamina is the key to exploration—climbing, gliding, and swimming further will let you reach more shrines and resources, ultimately getting you those hearts faster anyway. Aim for at least two full stamina wheels early on. You can always trade stamina for hearts later at the Goddess Statue in Lookout Landing if you need a specific amount for a story moment.
Seek Out Skyview Towers: There are 15 Skyview Towers scattered across Hyrule. Each one:
- Reveals a large portion of the map when activated.
- Unlocks a fast-travel point.
- Launches you high into the sky, letting you glide to distant locations or reach sky islands.
Activate Every Shrine You See: Even if you’re not ready to complete a shrine’s challenge, simply walk inside to unlock it as a fast-travel point. You can always come back later. Shrines are also your primary source of Lights of Blessing for upgrading hearts and stamina.
Tame a Horse: Once you’re on the surface, find a wild horse, sneak up on it, soothe it, and mount it. Then register it at a stable. This gives you a reliable, fast way to travel across Hyrule’s fields. If you have save data from Breath of the Wild, any horses you boarded there will be available at the stables.
Drop Map Markers Liberally: The game isn’t always generous with direction markers. Use your scope and map to drop your own pins on caves, interesting locations, or items you can’t reach yet. You’ll thank yourself later.
Combat and Survival: Staying Alive
Fuse Your Weapons: This cannot be overstated. Base weapons in TotK are fragile and weak. Fusing them with monster parts, rocks, or other materials increases both their damage and durability. Bokoblin horns, especially from black Bokoblins, are abundant and provide a solid early-game boost.
Arrows are Precious: Unlike in Breath of the Wild, arrows are a scarce and valuable resource in the early game. Loot every crate and break every box you see to stock up. To conserve arrows, you can hold R to ready a throw, press Up on the D-pad, select an item like a Bomb Flower, and throw it directly—no arrow needed.
Cook Smart: Cooking is vital for healing and buffs. You can cook at any Cooking Pot by holding up to 5 ingredients in your inventory and placing them in the pot.
- Cook meals for healing and temporary hearts.
- Cook elixirs (using monster parts + critters) for resistances and buffs.
- Important: Meal effects don’t stack. Eating a new meal will overwrite the effect of the previous one. Only eat more food if you’re fine with losing the old buff, or if you’re just healing.
Combat Training: Just outside Lookout Landing, find and complete the Kyononis Shrine. It’s a combat tutorial that teaches you how to block, dodge, and parry effectively—skills every swordsman needs.
The Full-Hearts Safety Net: If you have full hearts, you will nearly always survive any single hit with at least a quarter-heart remaining. If you take a big hit and are left with a sliver, immediately eat something to get back to full before the enemy hits you again.
Go Pantless for Stealth: Yes, you read that right. Removing your leg armor significantly reduces the noise you make when sneaking up on enemies or wild horses. Just remember to put your pants back on before a big fight !
Advanced Beginner Wisdom
Don’t Fear the Depths (Yet): The underground world, the Depths, is pitch-black, filled with tough enemies, and inflicts Gloom damage that can temporarily reduce your max health. Avoid serious exploration down there until you’ve built up your hearts, stamina, and gear. When you do go, bring plenty of Brightbloom Seeds to light your way.
Stockpile Zonai Devices: These nifty capsules contain fans, wheels, wings, and other mechanical parts. Hoard them early. Once you have a good stock, experiment with attaching them to create vehicles, traps, or even flying machines.
Save Often and in Multiple Slots: Autosaves are helpful but unreliable. Tears of the Kingdom can be punishing (lightning, falls, surprise attacks!). Manually save frequently, and rotate your save files to avoid getting stuck.
Sell Gems for Rupees: Your primary source of early-game cash is selling the gems (Amber, Opal, Ruby, etc.) you find in caves and mines. Use the rupees to buy armor, arrows, and other essentials. Just hold onto rare gems like Diamonds until you know you won’t need them for upgrades.
Increase Your Inventory: Look for Koroks solving little puzzles across Hyrule. Help them, and they’ll give you Korok Seeds. Find Hestu (he’s initially near Lookout Landing) and trade those seeds to expand your inventory slots for weapons, bows, and shields. Focus on weapon slots first—durability is low, and you’ll always need backups.
Follow the Story’s Recommended Path: After Lookout Landing, the “Regional Phenomena” quest will point you toward four regions. The game gently suggests heading northwest toward Rito Village first, and for good reason. Doing so will put you on the path to acquiring a powerful sage ability and progressing the story smoothly.
Talk to Everyone: This is a Zelda staple for a reason. Characters called Golems, in particular, offer useful information about the areas you’re in. The Lucky Clover Gazette quest, starting near Rito Village, is a fantastic way to tour Hyrule and unlock useful armor.
Embrace Experimentation: The most important tip of all. Tears of the Kingdom is a game about creativity. If you have an idea, try it. If it fails, try something else. There is no “right” way to overcome an obstacle—if your solution works, it’s a success. Share your discoveries with friends, and be inspired by what others have done.
Your adventure is yours to shape. Experiment, explore, and most of all, have fun. Hyrule is waiting.
